ANTH 50.22 Sovereignty, Race, and Rights

This course examines the colonial legacies of rights, race, gender, and difference and their significance for contemporary global politics and development. By taking an socio-historical approach to the idea of rights we will make connections between sovereignty, the rule of law, representational practices, economy, and citizenship. We will use a critical eye to explore the conditions of possibility that allow states, development organizations, donor agencies, and individuals to unwittingly reproduce centuries-old tropes of poverty, degradation, and helplessness of non-Western peoples. Examining various institutionally structured encounters between Europeans and non-Western peoples we unpack assumptions about the naturalness of power. In postcolonial societies the tensions between ideas of tradition and modernity structure many conflicts over rights, citizenship, and the role of the individual in society.

Instructor

Shipley

Cross Listed Courses

AAAS 88.16

Degree Requirement Attributes

Dist:INT or SOC; WCult:NW

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